California vs. Trump: State prepares for battle to protect taxpayers, progressive policies
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Governor Newsom and most democratic lawmakers are preparing to protect California's progressive policies in the courts like they did during the first Trump administration.
"California won 80% of those lawsuits, so this is a man who has no issues violating the law and we want to send a very clear message not just to Donald Trump but the people of California that we have people's back here in California," State Senator Scott Wiener said. "Of course, we should and we will work with the President-elect on areas where we agree and there are always going to be some agreements. It's not about fighting for the sake of fighting."
This time, lawmakers anticipate there will be more on the list of possible lawsuits.
"It could be things like climate action, reproductive freedom, civil rights, immigrant families. But also one part of this, that is important as well is protecting California taxpayers," Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel said.
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Protecting California taxpayers means that if Californians pay their share of taxes to the federal government, then President-elect Trump should not withhold any kind of federal disaster funds as he threatened to do last October.
On the flip side, one may argue that necessity is the mother of "political innovation."
New York State Senator Liz Krueger recently suggested some liberal Northeast states could withhold billions of dollars in federal taxes if President-elect Trump goes through with his plans for mass deportations.
California already gets back less in federal taxes than it pays.
2022 data reveals that California and 12 other states received proportionately less in federal funds.
That means California and the other wealthier states are subsidizing the rest of the states.
In Fiscal year 2022, California sent about $692 billion to the federal government and only got back around $620 billion in federal funds, which is about a $72 billion deficit.
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By comparison, that is about three times the state's $27 billion 2023-24 budget deficit.
We've known about this deficit for some time because, in 2003, then-Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger complained that the federal funding system was unfair and that he would fight for that money.
He was quoted then as saying, "For each dollar that we pay, we only get 77 cents back. So there's a lot of money we can get from the federal government."
Would California lawmakers today have the political will to intensify it's pressure on the Trump administration?
"I think if you are going to start threatening the federal government with withholding, demanding that individuals withhold their federal taxes, that isn't a rhetoric that doesn't actually work well. You don't want to to be in that battle," said Corey Cook, Provost at Saint Mary's College.
John Perez was Speaker of the Assembly near the end of Schwarzenegger's administration and says there are ways to get more money for California.
"One of the things that I think are going to be the most successful strategies to draw down more federal money is to keep more here at home," Perez said. "How do we do that? We do that by working on a bipartisan basis to overturn the limits on deductibility of California state and local taxes."
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Tax reforms passed last time President Trump was in office limited tax deductions to $10,000. He has indicated he may reverse those limits on things like the cap on your mortgage interest deduction.
Voters have also indicated they want government to work for them and as the national election showed us, here in California there was voter frustration over some of the state's progressive policies. That's one reason why Republicans gained ground in almost all counties in the state.
"Our constituents, they don't feel that the state of California is working for them," said the new Speaker of the California Assembly, Robert Rivas.
Rivas suggested that we set certain issues aside and focus on charting a new path forward and renew the California dream by focusing on affordability.
"They're anxious because they feel it, they feel it at the grocery stores, where they have to pay their bills, they feel it every time they fill up their gas tanks for their long commutes from work to home," he said.
"The democratic party has not effectively addressed the rising costs of living, has not addressed economic concerns," Cook said. "So certainly if you are going to talk about the agenda for the legislature, for the coming year, addressing affordability, the cost of living, housing, those related set of issues that we know are priorities for voters is critical for the legislature to address."
